Hanneke Antonelli Blog

Rob Gronkowski admits to only reading 80% of his book.

In the news recently, NFL player Rob Gronkowski admitted in an interview with Serius XM radio that he only read 80% of his own book. So this means he also didn’t write his entire book…wow!?

Now granted a) Gronkowski probably has more important things to do with his time like practicing for the next big Patriots game and b) does it really matter? Either way, I must admit I kinda envy Gronkowski for being able to have a published book having put in only 80% of the work.

That brings us to our topic today – wishing to achieve career & life goals when we fail to put in 100% of the work needed. When we set goals we often misjudge how much time and effort we’ll have to put in to actually accomplish it.

It’s like graduating from university in your twenties and expecting to immediately land a job as the CEO of a company or starting your own business and think that you’ll make your 1st million the very first day. Now granted these things can happen, but when you take a closer look at how it was done, you’ll learn that there was a ton of prep work before achieving this goal. Unlike Gronkowski you won’t get away with only putting in 80% of the work, or can you?

Graduation day with my mom.

The optimist in all of us seems to take over right at the beginning of the goal setting stage and leads us to believe that we’ll get it all done in no time. That’s probably why they say that Jan 21st is the saddest day of the year. By then every one has realized that the new years goals are not going to be that easy and it’s then that most people give up and reach for a double glazed donut.

So how do you set and achieve a goal?

It may just be a matter of reworking your plan. Making sure your goals are SMART ones.

Ask yourself:
What is it exactly that you’d like to achieve?

What are all the logistics, time commitment and costs associated with this goal?

Also make sure your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable And Realistic – I like to change the “R” from “realistic” to “RISKY.” Your goal should challenge you just a little – Lastly give your goal a Timeline. Make sure to put the D-day in your calendar or diary.

Put them all together and BOOM, you’ve got yourself a SMART goal.

By doing this you may be as lucky as Gronkowski and get away with putting in 80% of the work and still achieving your goal! Why? Because in creating a clear strategy and SMART goals, you’ll find that the journey to achieving your professional and life aspirations will feel more effortless. Things will start to fall into place, people will be there to help you and you can get away with achieving that goal without doing 100% of the work.

It is as president Benjamin Franklin said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail!”